MilaX was a small-size live-CD distribution which runs completely off a CD or a USB storage device. It was based on OpenSolaris Nevada and includes its basic features. It originally started as an experiment to see how much OpenSolaris software could fit on a mini-CD, but it eventually became a full-fledged OpenSolaris distribution. It was also possible to use MilaX as a rescue CD. It can be installed on storage media with a small capacity, including bootable business cards, USB flash drives, memory cards, and Zip drives. MilaX was free to use, modify and distribute.

After the recent switch to the Ubuntu code base, Freespire has restarted their development process with the first alpha release of Freespire 2.0: "Freespire version 2.0 Alpha1U (1.2.42) is now available for download." The new release uses the latest Linux kernel 2.6.20, X.Org 7.2 and KDE 3.5.6, but many Freespire-specific features have yet to be implemented. From the release notes: "Automatic boot menu management does not always work; no upgrade path available from Freespire 1.0 or previous versions of Freespire 2.0 alphas; NVIDIA and ATI drivers are not automatically installed; Jack has been removed, any applications which do not use ALSA may not work properly." For more information please read the release announcement and release notes. Download (MD5): freespire_1.2.42.iso (635MB); also available via BitTorrent.

Freespire was once a community-run Linux distribution sponsored by Linspire. Freespire was discontinued in 2008. Starting in 2017 Freespire became a free operating system based on Ubuntu and run by PC/OpenSystems LLC. Freespire features the Xfce desktop environment.

PC/OpenSystems has announced the organisation has purchased the rights to the commercial Linspire distribution and its community branch, Freespire. PC/OpenSystems is re-launching these two, long-dormant Linux distributions with refreshed packages and features. The new releases, Linspire 7.0 and Freespire 3.0, are based on Ubuntu. "Today the development team at PC/OpenSystems LLC is pleased to announce the release of Freespire 3.0 and Linspire 7.0. While both contain common kernel and common utilities, they are targeted towards two different user bases. Freespire is a FOSS distribution geared for the general Linux community, making use of only open source components, containing no proprietary applications. This is not necessarily a limitation: through our software center and extensive repositories, Freespire users can install any application that they wish. Linspire is a commercial release which builds on the elegant Freespire foundation. It does include a proprietary software set optimized for business users, students, researchers and developers." A list of features and further details can be found in the company's release announcement. Linspire can be purchased from PC/OpenSystems while Freespire is available as a free download. Download: freespire-3-x64.iso (1,436MB, SHA256, pkglist).

Freespire 2.0 has been released: "Freespire 2.0 is immediately available; the latest version of the free desktop Linux operating system. Building on the best of open source software using Ubuntu as its baseline, Freespire 2.0 adds legally licensed proprietary drivers, codecs, and applications in its core distribution, to provide a better user experience. Freespire is able to provide improved out-of-the-box hardware, file type, and multimedia support, such as MP3, Windows Media, Real Networks, Java, Flash, ATI, NVIDIA, WiFi, and many more. Freespire is also the first desktop Linux operating system that will include a CNR plugin for the soon-to-be-released new CNR Service, providing free one-click access to thousands of open source applications." Read the full release announcement for more information. Download (MD5): freespire_2.0.0.iso (683MB); also available via BitTorrent.

The second alpha release of the Ubuntu-based Freespire 2.0 is now ready for testing: "Freespire version 2.0 Alpha2U (1.2.49) is now available for download. This is the second alpha build based on Ubuntu that might not be good for the health of a production machine. Expect improvements as future builds are released. Some of the release notes: automatic boot menu management does not always work, do not install if you are not experienced at repairing GRUB configurations and MBRs; no upgrade path available from Freespire 1.0 or previous versions of Freespire 2.0 alphas; NVIDIA and ATI drivers are not automatically installed; Jack has been removed - any applications which do not use ALSA may not work properly." Read the release announcement and release notes for further information. Download (MD5)via BitTorrent or directly from this HTTP server: freespire_1.2.42.iso (637MB).

The Freespire development team has announced the availability of the third alpha release of Freespire 2.0: "This is the third release of Freespire 2.0 Alpha 3 (Build 1.1.84)." The most interesting feature of the release is the newly added upgrade path from Freespire 1.0. As always, Freespire's alpha releases are designed for testers, rather than production machines; some of the known bugs and missing features include: "Automatic boot menu management does not always work; KDE su dialog appears when attempting to change settings from within the start-up wizard; 'Configure Network Settings' in Startup Wizard does not function at this time; KNetworkManager does not auto-start and requires root permissions to load properly; firewall is disabled; modem drivers are not included; CNR is not included; some wireless cards don't work...." Read the release announcement and release notes for more details. Download via BitTorrent: freespire_1.1.84.iso (694MB).

The second development build of Freespire 2.0 has been released: "Freespire version 2.0 Alpha2 (1.1.73) is now available for download. This is the second alpha build that might not be good for the health of a production machine. Expect improvements as future builds are released." From the release notes: "Automatic boot menu management does not always work - do not install if you are not experienced at repairing GRUB configurations and MBRs; no upgrade path available from Freespire 1.0; kernel is not SMP enabled; apt repository is pointing to Debian sid; sound for quick switched user accounts inoperative...." Read the rest of the release announcement for further details. Download (BitTorrent only): freespire_1.1.73.iso (690MB).

The first development build of Freespire 2.0 has been released: "Freespire version 2.0 Alpha (1.1.57) is now available for download. New features: KDM login manager; KDE 3.5.5 with user switching and SuperKaramba; kernel 2.6.18; desktop directory names (no spaces); Lbrowser with Flash Player 9 beta; Lmail including FreeLinuxEmail; Gaim 2.0.0 beta4; OpenOffice.org 2.0.4." This early alpha release contains a number of known problems and is therefore not recommended for production systems. For more information please read the release announcement and release notes. The CD image is available for download via BitTorrent: freespire_1.1.57.iso (668MB, MD5).

Kendall Dawson has announced the release of Freespire 1.0 final, some three weeks ahead of schedule: "Freespire version 1.0 (build 13) is now available for download. A few minor release notes: enabled selection of file system type in installer; bug fixes for ISP connection tools; Freespire KDE theme fixes; numerous fixes to Lmail and Lbrowser. To report a bug please see this page in the wiki. Enjoy!" Here is the complete release announcement. The project's first stable version can be downloaded from here: freespire_1.0.13.iso (680MB, MD5); also available via BitTorrent.